Chapter 19: Lazy Buddies
Five Days Later
Muichiro was walking through the main base of the corps with a box in his hands. He looked beyond exhausted, and he was. He hasn't slept in a good while. He spent five days running back to the base, on the way he couldn't move too fast and had to keep the box somewhat sturdy.
It was harder than one would think surprisingly enough. Muichiro jogged through the base looking for his estate, but he forgot. He asked a few kakushi where his estate was but their directions weren't very helpful full.
Muichiro was SOMEHOW able to find his estate which was in the middle of a forest a bit away from the other Hashiras'. His estate did have any kakushi or helpers like the other Hashira though.
Muichiro liked the quiet and he didn't want to deal with many people. He went to his estate letting the kitchens wander around freely. He made sure all of the ways out of the estate were closed so they wouldn't wander outside and get lost.
Muichiro wasn't confident in finding them if they left. They explored the new environment curiously. Muichiro let them be and took off his haori. He hung it somehow and left soon after. Muichiro had no idea what cats are supposed to eat, he knew they ate meat and fish but he didn't have any of that.
He usually ate with one of the Hashiras since he wasn't the best cook. He read something somewhere some time ago about cats only drinking milk as a sort of comfort food or something along those lines. He doesn't remember, as per usual.
Muichiro ran to the estate of the only person he knew for a fact would know something about cats. If this person didn't then he doesn't know who will. He jumped from branch to branch until he was out of the forest. Muichiro silent cursed having forgotten where their estate was.
Sometime Later
Muichiro was in front of some shoji panels. "Why am I even here? Is there something wrong with me? I am sleep deprived so maybe." He sighed and turned around. Muichiro was about to take a step forward when he heard the panels open.
"Tokito-san?"
Muichiro froze and turn around. Mitsuri stood there looking at him with a slightly red face. "Oh, hallo. I just wanted to ask a quick question."
"Oh, that's okay! Come in." She gestured him in but he shook his head. "It's just one question, wouldn't take that long..."
"I have milk tea a sakura mochi!"
"Of course I will join you, it wouldn't be very nice of me to decline someone's generosity." He walked in looking around for the milk tea and mochi.
Mitsuri laughed and closed the panels. She didn't expect Muichiro to stop by today since he has been on missions for a while but she just had a gut feeling. So she got some milk tea ready just in case, and if Muichiro didn't come she would drink it since it tastes really good.
Muichiro and Mitsuri sat on the floor with a small table between them. Muichiro stopped drinking his tea and looked down at the plate of mochi in front of him. "I wanted to ask if you know what cats eat?"
Mitsuri gulped down some mochi a bit surprised by his questions "Wait, you have a cat?" Muichiro nodded and put his sword to the side "I found three of them in an ally on my last mission, the owners just felt them there so I took them. On the way here I gave them chicken but I don't know if they should be eating something else or what."
Mitsuri leaned over the table and her face ended up very close to Muichiro's "That's so sweet!!" She yelled with her hands on the table. Muichiro's eyes wandered for a second but he just stared into her eyes.
His mother always told him not to let his eyes linger for too long, just look once and commit it to memory. He has years of practice so he was a pro at it, a very useful skill to have. Muichiro stiffed loudly and blinked a few times.
Mitsuri had a big smile when she leaned back into her previous spot "I have an idea. How about you move it with me?! If you did I can also take care of them while teaching you as well. There are people who will take care of them when we're both absent as well."
"Sure I don't see why not." Muichiro said although he was completely different on the inside 'Why did I say that? I don't like being around people. This is confusing.'
He looked down at the cup and didn't know if he should be frowning and smiling. He guess that Mitsuri was somehow cracking the shell he had around him that developed over years on Earth. He wasn't complaining though.
A Week Later
Muichiro and Kyojuro were sitting under a tree with their backs leaning against each other. The blazing sun was killing them, Muichiro's resistance to the heat was pretty shit when compared to the cold.
Muichiro and Kyojuro were lazy buddies. Kyojuro was smiling per usual with a glass of water in his hand. Muichiro slowly blinked and reach for the juice "Hey, can you teach me flame breathing?"
Kyojuro was a bit surprised by this. He would have never expected Muichiro to want to learn flame breathing, especially since he already uses a breathing style and he was very good at it.
"Why do you want to learn flame breathing? You already know a style." Kyojuro drank the water and groaned a bit at the heat. "I always wanted to learn other styles. I'm not giving up on mist breathing but I just want to master others. I can't learn love breathing for SEVERAL reasons, and Giyuu would probably say no to teaching me water breathing. Plus flame breathing is cool."
Kyojuro thought for a bit and hummed. He wasn't against the idea, plus he knew Muichiro was quite talented. "Okay! I'll teach you, but I have a question."
"What?"
"How long did it take you to master all forms of mist breathing?"
Muichiro thought for a bit and said "I don't remember, but I did train for two months before going to the final selection. So let's say two months. I could send a message to my old teacher but it would take a long time since he lives in a fishing town somewhere."
Kyojuro held his chin with his hand and nodded firmly "Right! When would you like to start? I heard Mitsuri is inviting all of the Hashira over for something tomorrow."
"Let's start next week. Wait, what's going on with Mitsuri? I forget, or I just didn't pay attention. Either or, it could be both." Muichiro said grabbing a piece of paper to make an airplane.
"Well, every week Mitsuri-chan likes to host a little get-together for all of the Hashira. You were on missions for the last few, and she hasn't been able to host many due to her missions. They usually start mid-day and go on until night. It's quite entertaining! Lots of food and games." Kyojuro said with a lot of enthusiasm.
"Ohh. I see. I probably going to forget this later though. Does all of the pillars attend or what?" Muichiro asked. He stared at the clouds watching them slowly fly by. It was kinda peaceful even with the heat.
"Most of the time all of the pillars come. Mostly for the food though. I'm sure you've eaten Mitsuri's cooking." Kyojuro looked back at Muichiro who nodded his head.
Muichiro wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. Groaning, Muichiro fell on the grass along with Kyojuro. "What month is it?" Muichiro asked. Kyojuro stretch his arms over his head and sighed. "September the twenty-first."
He heard Muichiro sigh and looked at him. "What?"
"I was hoping it would be Christmas soon. I never celebrated it before." Muichiro said. On Earth, Muichiro didn't have anyone to spend Christmas with so he would just skip it.
He doesn't even think he celebrated it with his family. Probably because things were always shit between them, he only really liked his mother since she was since. He doesn't even remember his father's name anymore, the guy could go kill himself for all he cared. Well, technically he did.
"What a flamboyant day it is! Don't you two agree?!"
Muichiro and Kyojuro looked to the side and saw Tengen laying on the grass next to them. Muichiro looked at the sound pillar and just blinked. He poked Kyojuro's arm a few times then point at Tengen "When did he get here?"
Kyojuro shrugged also looking at him. "I have always been here!"
Muichiro shook his head "No, you haven't. My memory is not the best..."
[It's absolute shit]
"... my memory isn't the best but I know for a fact that you were not here before."
"Well, you are wrong." Tengen said taking out some saki.
"How come I didn't hear you?" Muichiro asked.
"Sound Hashira."
"How didn't I sense you then?"
"I'm just that flamboyant!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone